i'm andrea roane. angie goff is here alone have traffic for you in a moment. we begin though with howard bernstein. no problem in the weather unless your lawns need watering. >> if you don't like the heat you're not going to like the next few days. we've done it 63 times this summer. the record is 67. >> let's hope we don't break it. >> we have chance for 64, 65 and 66 before the week is out. i'm talking about 90-degree days. temperatures this morning a lot warmer than yesterday when we had 40s on the boards in many areas. those places are in the 50s and 60s. 70 in cull pepper. 69 at national. a significanty warmer morning than what we had yesterday than will lead to a significanty warmer afternoon. yesterday, we hit 80. today, forecasting a high of 90

in washington. look at culpeper, fredericksburg. a little cooler on the bay, temperatures there holding in the mid to upper 80s. looking at today at a glance. low 80s at noon. 89 for the drive home and we may see in a couple of spots if you're lucky a much-needed rain-making thundershower. it's 4:31. angie take it away. >> dealing with some construction early on. south capitol street at the douglas bridge until about 5:00 you're only going to be down to one lane in both directions. that's ongoing construction that will be with us for weeks to come. >> we're looking at a one hour drive getting out of fredericksburg making your way out of i-95 and 395. 395 is our next stop. no problems from the beltway over towards duke street. 495 in maryland and your drive is moving at speed making your way in towards virginia and we're going to end with inbound

new york avenue nice and quiet commute this morning towards the 3rd street tunnel. investigators are searching for answers after a woman is found dead on her doorstep. as brittany morehouse reports, neighbors say the woman was in the midst of a new beginning in her life. >> sad because i knew her. she lived hee for a long time. >> reporter: no name, no picture but people who knew are still grieving the woman found outside of her apartment on greenbelt road are remembering her with fondness she was specially sweet to young people. >> especially when you have kids. >> this is some scary things. >> reporter: many people were frightened when they saw the woman hanging outside of the front door of the apartment complex. they say she was lying down in the ground in a pool of blood. >> it looked like she probably fainted and one hand was out halfway where the doors are. >> reporter: police will say very little with the woman, except that she was in her 40s and suffered some blunt trauma but the friends she made describe her first as a proud

grandmother who was so excited to have just bought her first home. >> everybody was so excited. that's all she talked about is she got a house and is moving. get a roof for my grandbaby. her grandson was her world. >> now your granddaughter got a room. >> reporter: rumors are circulating that she may have run into someone up to no good. >> whoever was staying at her place she witnessed their face and that's why they did what they did to her. >> reporter: with a killer on the loose, they now vow not to wipe clean the memory of a good neighbor, good fiend, while maintenance men have already wiped the walls clean of her murder. >> she was too sweet. >> reporter: brittany morehouse, 9news now. >> police have not said if there is a suspect in this case. the supreme court has refused to block the execution of a virginia woman. teresa lewis was convicted of using money and sex to hire two

men to kill her husband and stepson to collect insurance money. lewis is scheduled to die by injection on thursday. her supporters say she's mentally retarded and her co- defendants were given life sentences. the midterm elections are important to president obama and the democratic party ton prove that point a familiar face will soon take to the road. tara mergener has the story. >> reporter: the white house is about it unleash unone of its biggest stars onto the campaign trail. next month, first lady michelle obama will headline at least nine democratic fund raisers in six states. she'll raise money for a handful of candidates facing tight reelection battles democratic turf. among them, wisconsin senator russ fine gold who passed up a chance to campaign with president obama earlier this month and california senator barbara boxer. >> i think she will go out and make a forceful and positive case for what this

administration has done. >> reporter: the white house insists mrs. obama is eager to hit the road and democrats are just as eager to have her. polls show she's more popular than her husband. >> michelle obama, i think, has enormous power in energizing the base and reenergying the base where that's necessary. >> reporter: the first lady has scored points with americans through her efforts to curb childhood obesity and her role as a mom and fashion icon. liberals believe that star power could help shrink their growing enthusiasm gap against voters. >> even if you're not a big fan of president obama there's a lot of people who still like michelle obama as a person, as a role model. >> reporter: come november democrats hope mrs. obama will earn the same name she earned during the 2008 presidential campaign which was the closer. tara mergener, cbs news, washington. a new poll in maryland's

gubernatorial race shows the candidates are running neck and neck. mark o'malley holds a 50 to 47% lead over former governor bob ehrlich the race is a virtual dead heat. the highly-anticipated meeting between vincent gray and michelle reich will happen thursday she is questioned gray's commitment to school reforms and has said she didn't think she could work for him. on the other hand, gray has been critical of reich's management style and firing of teachers and says his chancellor must be able to get along with people. democrats fell four votes short of the 60 they would need to move forward to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell." that policy prevents homosexuals from openly serving in the military. the legislation also would have

authorized $726 billion in defense spending, including a pay raise for troops. an american military official says a "large number of americans are among the nine service members killed in a helicopter crash in southern afghanistan." the military hasn't disclosed the aircraft as mission. the cause of the crash remains unclear. this is one of the worst chopper crashes since fighting began in 2001. the struggling economy leads to another resignation from the white house and unemployment picture appears to be getting worse for some sections of the country. it's 4:37. you're watching 9news now. we'll be right back.

welcome back. happy wednesday everybody. it's free flowing on the dulles toll road. 260 headed eastbound from the greenway to the beltway. it's angie with more traffic. >> jessica doyle is here with today's headline.

>> investor still digestings the latest from the federal reserve. at the close of the policy meeting yesterday the fed said it could take additional steps to help the economy. checking the numbers at home, the dow standing this morning at 10, 761. it added seven points in trading yesterday. on the flip side, the nasdaq was down about 6 1/2 and the s&p 500 lost almost three points. president obama's top economic adviser will soon be stepping down. lawrence summers will leave the white house at the end of the year. he's returning to a teaching position at harvard university. summers is the third key member of the president's economic team to leave in recent months. the job picture has gotten worse for more than half of the country. labor department says 27 states posted higher unemployment rates in august, even as the national jobless rate remained at 9.6%. nevada, michigan and california have consistently racked up rates above 12%. here at home d.c. came at 9.9% new mexico --- at 7.3% and

virginia at 7%. we lost jobs in the washington area in august but at least their picture is better than the rest of the country. >> for more link smart headlines log onto our website, wusa9.com. click on the link smart tab on our front page. the early morning commute to our north is about to get a little complicated and doctors unveil a new surgery they say can do away with the need for reading glasses. it's 4:41 here's howard. >> a lot warmer this morning and if you think you need the sweaters because fall begins tonight, well you don't. at least not for several days. we'll talk about summertime, summer heat that's headed our way. 9news now this morning will continue in a moment.

welcome back to 9news now. an an usual race car came cruising through the district. an example of the car that can go from the race track to the

driveway. the porsche uses advanced technology along with renewallable non-based food for fuel. it leads to a reduction in fuel consumption. >> continues a porsche. >> if it were a convertible it would be a great day for the top to be down. you have warm temperatures in the forecast. >> this is almost record-making warmth. not that we're going to be at the record highs but the fact we'll be at 90s for the next couple of days will put us one shy. it will get us up to 66. incredible summer and it's not over. even though astronomically we get fall. if you've been sniffling a little less. everything came in low yesterday and we'll take that since we're on the heart of rag weed season. moms like me bus stop forecast clear and pleasant.

not nearly as chilly as yesterday. readings in the 50s and 60s and even low 70s in spots. i think you can get away without the light jacket. look how quickly we'll warm up. 85 by noon. 89 by 5:00. winds will be out of the southwest at 10 miles an hour. tonight, partly cloudy, mild, a stray shower. 62 to 72. those are sounding like lows with light winds out of the west. sunset 7:05. tomorrow, sunny and hot again, a chance for an afternoon thunderstorm. may be a little less than today. upper 80s to low 90s just like today with south winds at 5 to 10 miles an hour. you can see the 60s out there to near 70 in washington. 69, same in southern maryland. it's a little cooler down. 70 in culpeper. 59 in cumberland. that's our cool spot across the region. locally, 58 in laurel. they take the cake but just down the road college park checking in at 70.

67 in brandywine. and 66 in springfield. out west, let me step out for a second. 65 in centreville and manassas. hay market you're one of our cool spots at 69 degrees. dew point's in the upper 50s. you'll recall yesterday these numbers were in the 40s so the humidity is keeping up as well. not only are we going to be hot we're going to be a little humid as well and winds this morning south at 10 miles an hour. until it's pretty quiet out west. showers and storms in south texas. this is what we've got to watch though. it's possible whatever happens in ohio, pennsylvania and connecticut with a little luck will head towards us. unfortunately the upper level wind fiend is stronger in pennsylvania, new york and new jersey. if you're going north today this has a better chance of seeing thunderstorms, abe mae few strong ones then say south

of the mason-dixon line. eastern kentucky have a few there. our 9 four cast, you can see by this evening we've popped a few thunderstorms. however, the heart them will be up with this front across areas like scranton to perhaps williams port and north of pittsburgh even upstate new york could see some of that. we'll go through the day tonight into tomorrow morning. we start quiet. front sort of breaks up. cold front moves east and the action moves back to the midwest. they're going to see more showers and storms. we may once again pop a stray storm in the afternoon on the ridge tops. generally out to the west and as we head into friday look at this. we're well in the warm sector. the low is almost in canada with the warm front up into ontario. we're going to be sitting for three days of some pretty serious temperatures around here, especially for late september. high temperatures today look winchester, culpeper 93. about 83 just because the water temperatures on the bay is

going to keep annapolis cooler. gaithersburg at airport 89. hagerstown 91. tonight it's going to be another mild night. 60s to low 70s for lows. annapolis 71 while perhaps martinsburg 62. one of our cooler spots at 66. in the tropics things are fairly quiet. still lisa out there. winds at 45 miles an hour. not moving quickly. forecast over the next few days to get to maybe there. we'll watch lisa but it is a fairly quiet, thankfully, period at least for the moment in the tropics. our seven-day forecast. we've got 90, 90, 92. chance for those afternoon storms today and tomorrow. saturday, we start to cooldown. i suppose by friday night early saturday there's a chance for shower but it's pretty light. late sunday, monday into tuesday chance for a passing shower as temperatures cool down to much more seasonal

levels to upper 70s to low 80s. >> we're halfway through the workweek. can you believe it. we're going to help you get through it. dealing with construction on 270. it's going to be with us for the next few minutes or so. southbound at 124. northbound watch for it at falls railroad. to the real time graphics 95. a couple of spots here northbound at 32. also at powder mill and then southbound at 198 that's where we have road work still set up. also for the next 15 minutes if you're traveling across the douglas bridge, do take note at south capital street you're reduced down one lane in both directions because of that ongoing construction. good start to our drive as we move it outside no incidents to report between the wilson bridge up towards 66 and finally we're going to wrap it up on 66. that eastbound trip we're looking at one smooth ride out of the manassa towards inside

the beltway. back to you. commute alert for motorists who use i-270 in maryland. this thursday the southbound lanes after exit 10, route 117 will be completely shut down for two, 15 minute intervals. the closure's between midnight and 4:00 a.m. will allow crews to construct a sign. drivers can use route 355 as an alternative. montgomery county executive ike ledbig was on hand in chevy chase. intersection near coleston drive has been the site of several accidents over the past several years. >> it's something that we've done because it's important and it has saved lives and we're responding to the community the community recognized a problem and we're responding promptly. the pedestrian island has helped to make walking safer around the county. d.c. police spent yesterday

cracking down on distracted drivers. in the district it's illegal to text or talk on the cell phone without a hands free device while driving. officers were pulling over drivers by thedozens. >> he said i was on my cell phone but i actually wasn't. it was in my lap. >> i rarely do it but i was trying to find out what my time schedule was this evening for my daughter's back to school night. >> violators each received $100 tickets new mexico ---'s hand held cell phone ban goes into effect october 1st and will be a secondary offense meaning officers can only ticket you if they pull you over for anything else however, texting while driving in maryland is a primary offense. we want to remind you of a

very important campaign here at wusa9. a great hangup. it is an effort to get everybody to quick using their cell phone while driving. we would love to share your story on the air. you can tell us your story by going to the great hangup page at wusa9.com or by calling 202- 895-5960. taking a look at today's living well headlines. washington is digging for answers about this summer's salmonella outbreak. today the owner of one of the nation's biggest egg farms will tell his side of the story to a congressional committee. iowa's right county egg farm eventually recalled 380 million eggs. the committee wants to know why the farm tested positive for salmonella hundreds of times, even before this summer's outbreak. a new study shows playing video games improves vision for adults with lazy eye.

researchers at the university of california berkeley found patient his better vision and 3d perception after spending 40 hours playing video games. lazy eye is a brain disorder that causes vision in one eye to develop improperly. until now there were few treatments available to adults. for more living well headlines, log onto our website, wusa9.com, and click on the living well tab on our front page. bed bugs. they've become so rampant in the u.s. that there's even a national summit now about dealing with the problem. and more issues are being raised about burials at arlington national cemetery. it's 69 degrees, 4:53. you're watching 9news now.

distracted driving. think about the internet. growing, evolving, literally transforming our lives. now imagine the possibilities of what tomorrow could bring. at at&t, we support a core set of standards that will guide the internet into the future... to protect users, and reward innovators, for years to come. we support a fair and open internet - affordable and accessible to everyone. transparent networks, managed in ways that are clear to all users. we support the fcc's plan to bring high-speed internet to everyone in america by 2020. and we are committed to keeping the internet working, as the economic engine that's creating jobs now. working together, investing, keeping information

and ideas flowing freely, we can ensure that the internet will continue to grow and influence the future... in ways we can only imagine. because the future has always been our business. at&t. ♪ [ female announcer ] have you ever seen a glacier while sunbathing? why not? have you ever climbed a rock wall in the middle of the ocean? or tried something really wild? why not? it's all possible in the nation of why not. royal caribbean's floating nation where you're free to do anything you want. which may be nothing at all. royal caribbean international. visit royalcaribbean.com today. (announcer) new icy hot spray. relief that's icy to dull pain, hot to relax it away. and no mess. new icy hot spray. don't mess around with pain.

good morning, and welcome back to 9news now. the mixup with remains of veterans at arlington national cemetery is worse than first thought. the "washington post" reports that at least on one occasion a plot was marked with a head stone but no remains buried underneath and another where a plot was marked with a body but marked with the wrong headstone. two initial have stepped down since news of this surfaces ast last year. a u.s. candidate struck while riding her bicycle has died. natasha pettigrew died. the driver admits striking pettigrew but thought she just struck an animal. a witness said she saw the suv stop and driveway with the bicycle underneath sparking in all directions. bed bugs are turning up in

the weirdest places. as we mentioned tuesday, the book drop at the public library in maryland is temporarily closed after an employee found bed bugs in a book. the infested book has been taken to a atruck outside of the library where exterminators will use extreme heat to kill the bugs. this news comes as the first of its kind bed bugs summit kicks off in chicago. manuel gallegus has more on an infestation problem that has reached epidemic proportions. >> reporter: bed bugs are biting and it's big business. in rosemont, illinois bed bug experts are showing off their latest weapons to combat the blood-sucking create yours. to a spray to the machines. represents from the centers for disease control, the military, the travel industry and colleges are all here. scooby, who's trained to sniff out the bugs with his nose, has

been working seven days a week. >> households, dorms, hotels and office buildings, you name it. >> reporter: bed bugs took another bite out of the big apple this weekend when an infestation forced nike town to shut down its flagship store in the heart of midtown. new york tops the list of the 15 most bed bug infested cities in the country with ohio holding the distinction with the most infested bed bug state. >> you definitely want to catch it early. >> reporter: the cost of eradicating the bugs are soaring. the summit vendors are pitching inexpensive ways to detect bed bugs. had a small card board bug hotel that goes near the bed and these plastic interceptors that go under the beg legs. preventive gadgets like this luggage protector and mattress encasement can help homeowners

ward off bed bugs. once they're in there are no easy solutions and ex termation can run into thousands of dollars. manuel gallegus, cbs 42 cbs 42, new york. >> ed bugs were all but eradicated in the u.s. but apparently people traveling from aboard have been carrying them and now they're back in full force. >> we're still here and we thank you for joining us at 9news at 5:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. angie goff will have traffic in a moment. right now howard bernstein is here with a quick look at our forecast. >> summer. just summer. i know fall begins tone at 11:09 and if you're out in the evening downtown, get this d.c. effect. because the sun is going to set due west tonight. right between the streets which line up east/west you can capture the sunset between buildings and get cool photos and you can only do this on the equinox and the autumnal equinox. just a little factoid. we should a